С Effective health and safety management A future perspective of construction health and safety: Towards an integrated system for managing project safety, quality and environment

1. Site Management and Safety
Lesson 20
Part С Effective health and safety management
A future perspective of construction health and safety:
Towards an integrated system for managing project safety,
quality and environment
Textbook: №20 (p.212-224)
PhD, professor Iryna Rudnieva

2. Introduction
Specialization is intrinsic to the total construction process, Large and complex
projects are characterized by teams of specialists, which traditionally include
planners, estimators, surveyors, engineers and construction managers. In recent
times these specialists have been joined by an additional host of managers, the
most prominent being responsible for health and safety, quality, and environmental
impact.
Today's construction projects could not operate without such specialization.
Each specialist contributes to the project through implementing particular
management procedures, or systems, or by following established professional
working practices.
Safety, quality and environment are aspects of construction which utilize
management subsystems that need to be maintained and all are subject to
increasingly stringent regulation, monitoring and assessment.
In 1992, the European Construction Institute first published Total Project
Management of
Construction Safety, Health and Environment (ECI, 1992), or the SHE (Safety,
Health and Environment) approach. This is a prominent example of total
management system development. In addition, the British Standards Institution
(BSI) is developing a mechanism for Integrated Management System Assessment
(IMSA), in which management systems may be certificated in any combination of
quality, environment and safety. This chapter considers the potential for
contracting organizations to develop integrated management systems

3. Management specialization
While specialization is essential to the construction processes it can
create problems (Arnold, 1994).
On a smaller project, coordination of specialist activities is relatively
simple, but, on a larger project with a greater number of specialists
coordination can be difficult. It becomes increasingly so as more and
more specialists are involved.
Appreciating the interface between specialist disciplines is essential
to avoid ambiguity or confusion (Griffith and Sidwell, 1995). Equally, it
is important to identify any overlap between disciplines as this may
point the way forward for restructuring the various inputs to create an
integrated management system.

4. Management support services
Safety, quality, and environment are three key areas in
construction project management.
The importance of such services should not be underestimated as
they fulfil essential functions and they interact with and influence the
other functions (Griffith, 1992).
However, their role is often seen in isolation and this is to miss the
point that they fundamentally exist to provide an efficient and effective
service to the project. Their position as support services does mean
that management should look at the possibilities for reducing
operational costs while maintaining a high level of delivery and for
this reason an integrated system, rather than multiple and separate
systems, might be preferred.

5. Quality management systems
Total quality management (TQM) is recognized as 'having a claim to be
one of the very oldest recorded management concepts' (McGeorge et al.,
1996).
Quality has traditionally been interpreted as 'ability to satisfy needs' (BSI,
1971), 'conformance to requirements' (BRE, 1978), and 'fitness for purpose'
(CIRIA, 1985), although recent trends have seen a more holistic
understanding of quality emerging in terms of providing customer satisfaction
(Griffith, 1990; Ross, 1993).
This orientation towards the customer has focused the attention of quality
management as a process which links to the various stages of the total
construction process and which underpins all activities and business of an
organization involved in any of those stages (Armstrong, 1993).
The development of formal quality management systems (QMS) has
evolved from the need to comply with worldwide quality standards, e.g. ISO
9000 (ISO, 1987). Compliance with such standards implies that an
organization follows documented procedures and working practices which
are subject to formal measurement, audit and review, this being conducted
internally and by an independent third party. It is these same elements that
present the basis for safety management and environmental management.

6. Safety management systems
Guidance literature published by the HSE advocates a systems
approach to safety management as presented in this book. Such a
system can be developed to meet BS 8800 (BSI, 1998), the UK
specification for health and safety management systems (H&SMS).
The HSE defines an accident as 'any unplanned event that resulted
in injury or ill health of people, or damage or loss to property, plant,
materials or the environment or a loss of business opportunity. This
interpretation clearly highlights the 'unplanned evene and the
assessment of risk as key elements in the management of safety'.
While good construction management practices have, in the main,
addressed the requirements for safe working within construction, a
formalized systems approach to safety management has recently
begun to emerge. In the UK this has followed the introduction of the
Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994 (HSE,
1994) (see Chapter 1). Meeting these Regulations is contingent upon
the contractual parties implementing a 'safety plan' and maintaining a
'safety file' for their project. To aid the fulfilment of these requirements a
systems approach is suggested.

7. Environmental management systems
ISO 14001 is the international standard for environmental
management systems (EMS) (ISO, 1994). This standard specifies the
basic requirements for the formulation, development, implementation
and maintenance of a management system directed towards
compliance with an organization's stated environmental policy and
objectives and in meeting current environmental legislation.
The environmental standard encourages the development and
implementation of an EMS based upon existing management systems,
for example a quality management system (QMS). Research by Griffith
(1995) identifies that contracting organizations are seeking to develop
environmental management systems based directly on their certificated
quality management systems.
While meeting the distinct requirements of the separate standards
the current focus is on integrating the core elements of the systems to
minimize duplication of development effort, assist implementation and
reduce operational costs.

8. Purpose
The principal purpose of each of the management systems is to
provide an open system — one which appreciates and interacts with its
environment — to plan, monitor and control its respective sphere of
interest within the organization (Lavender, 1996).
For example, environmental management is concerned with the
policy, strategy and procedures that form the organization's response to
its environmental situation in the course of running its business.
Similarly, the direct link to organizational ethos, culture and approach
which is demonstrated in environmental management is shared by both
quality and safety management. Each advocates a holistic or 'whole
organization' philosophy, presents a well-defined framework
Pre-qualifying for project quality, safety record and environmental
safeguard within the tendering process is increasing in popularity in
many countries (Griffith, 1995).
Purpose, structure and characteristics of quality,
safety and environmental systems

9. Structure
 Quality management is embraced by ISO 9000 (ISO, 1987)
 Environmental management by ISO 14001 (ISO, 1994)
 Safety management is currently encompassed within BS 8800
(BSI, 1998).
These standards, within their respective spheres of activity, specify
the basic requirements for the formulation, development,
implementation and maintenance of a structured management
approach, or system, directed towards compliance with an
organization's policy and objectives and in meeting current applicable
legislation.
All three management spheres range from guiding the business
operation of the whole organization to the specifics of project
procedure or service delivery, in the context of a contracting
organization this would be the project site.

10. Characteristics
In combination with the common aspects of structure, the
characteristics of safety, quality and environmental management
relate strongly to the systems application propounded by Armstrong
(1993). He identifies the discipline within an organization of defining
objectives, the establishment of measurable indicators of success in
meeting objectives and the development of procedures to facilitate
the pursuit of objectives. Exposure to the broader internal and
external environments determine that audit and review are also
prominent.
Safety, quality, and environmental management systems help
organizations come to terms with changing market demands and the
assessment of business risk. Important characteristics of
organizational development follow from these systems, for exampleì
corporate focus, credibility in the marketplace, reduced liability, and
organizational efficiency and effectiveness.

11. Compatibility of the systems
Safety, quality, and environmental management have developed
individually .
ISO 9000, ISO 14001 and BS 8800 share key elements in structure
and advocate procedures which encourage compatibility, while
recognizing and accommodating their individual and dedicated
interests.
Key elements which feature in the standards and should be
reflected in any management system are policy, aims and objectives,
programmes, documentation, working procedures, record keeping and
audit and review. These key elements are sufficiently compatible to
form the basis of an integrated management system at corporate level
which can be extended to construction project specific applications.

12. Synergistic links
It is suggested that there is a strong synergistic link between safety, quality,
and environmental management systems. Each evolves through a process of
planning, monitoring, controlling and review when applied to the project
situation.
This dynamicism develops from an effective systems approach, one which
is actively supported by corporate management and well understood and
accepted by project teams. The key inputs of active leadership, the
commitment to specific policy and goals, the clear definition of roles and
procedures and frequent review and development combine to reinforce the
synergistic link.
The real synergy of an integrated management system is the recognition of
the key characteristic which can be used as the focus for system development
and application. This characteristic, which was identified earlier, is the
'unplanned event'. This is common to quality, safety and environmental impact.
The unplanned event is paramount as it highlights the principal element upon
which to structure the integrated management system — assessment of risk. If
the assessment of risk is the core of the system, a vehicle must be identified
for facilitating risk assessment. Within construction management this vehicle is
invariably 'the planning process' — appreciated in the broadest sense as
planning, monitoring, control and review.

13. Towards an integrated management system
Awareness
Traditionally, there has been a need for separate and specialist
quality, safety and, more recently, environmental management
sections, or departments, within organizations. This is because
each management function has evolved at different times and it
has been difficult for both corporate and project management to
rapidly understand all the concepts involved.
A major problem with this situation is that each management
area has developed on its own, concentrating on its own
performance in application rather than focusing on 'the service'
provided to the core business.
Moreover, problems are compounded because the corporate
organization assumes that dedicated departments take complete
responsibility and therefore they themselves are not as participative
as they should be in getting the best out of the support services.

14. System development and outline procedures
Contracting organizations do not have to develop and implement
extensive and complex management systems.
It is advisable to follow the system specification of a recognized
standard. It is perfectly feasible to develop a bespoke in-house
system for environmental management based on a quality system
(CIRIA, 1995).
There are a number of prerequisites to integrated systems
development. These apply at corporate level and at project level and
focus upon management commitment and management planning
respectively. Also, a clear focus on the specifics of quality, safety and
environmental impact must be retained. Essentially, the integrated
system will manage each in a dedicated way but in systems terms be
brought together under one administrative umbrella.

15. Corporate level
One of the principal impediments to organizations delivering such
initiatives quickly and successfully is that they will, at first, see an
integrated management system as providing soft benefits rather than
hard benefits.
Development vision and support for the system must be
demonstrated by corporate management and this needs to permeate the
entire organization. To ensure that the system has an optimum
chance of being effective there needs to be:
• demonstrable commitment from executive corporate
management
• a clear statement of organizational policy and this should be
circulated throughout the organization
• employee ownership of the system through involvement in
development and implementation
• identified goals against which performance can be compared
• adequate resources to facilitate the system framework and
operational management
• ongoing review and improvement to system application.

16. Project level
An organization's corporate approach to any management system
development is only as good as its successful implementation to its
projects.
A structured approach towards the management of quality, safety
and environmental impact will better facilitate site management.
An integrated system should aid this through specific steps being
taken in three clearly defined stages. These were identified in a study of
environmental management undertaken by Griffith (1994) and can be
applied to the integrated system. The stages, and the steps to be taken,
are as follows.

17. Project appraisal
This is concerned with the pre-construction stage where risk
assessment and planning are prominent. The following steps should
be undertaken:
• A quality, safety and environmental impact risk assessment as
part of the tendering process.
• The identification of key quality, safety and environmental
impact issues that need to be addressed on site,
• The development of quality, safety and environmental impact
plans. The distribution of good practice guidelines to staff
relevant to the key issues identified.
• The determination of audit procedures between the corporate
organization and the project site.

18. Project familiarization
This is concerned with commencement on site, where the
understanding of all project team members is paramount. The
following steps should be undertaken:
• The briefing of all project staff in the quality, safety and
environmental impact issues identified in project appraisal.
• A site tour to familiarize the construction team with the project
and its relationship to the risks in all areas.
• Training in the use of the procedures that will be used to plan,
monitor and control project quality, safety and environmental
impact.

19. Project (production) management
This is concerned with control during production, where communication of
system procedures is foremost. The following steps should be
implemented.
• Practice notes on good quality, safety and environmental
management.
• An item checklist for quality, safety and environmental risk
assessment and risk monitoring.
• Self-audit/ review sheets for system managers.
• Guidance notes on potential actions should issues or problems
arise.
• References to higher management (corporate level) who can be
called upon to respond quickly to issues and problems should the
need arise.

20. 20
Simple site reporting mechanisms should be adopted as pro
forma checklists to assist the production management stage. These
can formally record the following:
• occurrence of any deficiency in quality, safety or environmental
impact
• location of the incident
• reason for the occurrence
• any action taken
• review of action to assess effectiveness
• further action needed
• notifiable nature of specific incidents, for example the report to
authorities of accidents to persons or breaches of environmental
regulation.

21. An integrated management system for project safety, quality and
environment briefly outlined can be given sufficient structure and rigour in
application to lay the general foundation for certificated management
systems. Specific aspects of the system will need to be addressed in line
with the requirements of particular standards and current legislation. An
organization that does not currently have a system for managing its
quality, safety and environmental matters would do well to consider
adopting such a general approach from
which it can build up a set of systems which could, in time, be put forward
for certificated status in the various areas of management.
On an everyday basis, construction managers have to manage project
quality, safety and environmental impact concurrently. In the past, while
specialization, to meet the evolution of particular management concepts,
has led to separate management systems being developed, it is evident
that there could be benefits to be accrued from integrating these
independent systerns into one management system which would be more
easily understood and more simply administered (Arnold, 1994). In the
future it is quite possible that the various systems used by a construction
management will simply be referred to as a 'total management system'
and that this system will embrace all the key areas of construction project
management.

22. Effective and Efficient Site
Management 22

23. 23

24. Progress Monitoring and Control
Planning and Programmes
24